Rud had done a great job keeping it together after first meeting the adventuring party. But as he stepped through the portal, arriving at the defenses he had constructed around the tower, he felt his facade crack slightly. A steadying breath did nothing to ease the worry brewing in his mind.

But I only have to hold it together for a minute, Rud thought, hyperventilating.

"That is a mighty tower," Roland said, him and his party pushing beyond the druid. "How long did it take to form?"

"Overnight," Rud squeaked.

"That's concerning," Roland said, turning to his mage. He jabbered a few words in his native tongue before switching back to whatever it was Rud spoke on the daily. "They typically take a while to form. We'll take some readings before we go in, if that's okay."

"All fine," Rud said, shifting nervously.

That got a look from Roland, who crouched to get a better look at him. "That's an interesting rate of growth you have there. What was it? Ten levels overnight? What secrets are you hiding?" Roland had a playful smile on his face that disarmed some of Rud's nervousness. But not all. The mage said something in their tongue before pressing forward to the tower. "An artifact? My, you're full of surprises aren't you?"

Rud laughed nervously. It was all he could do so he didn't freak out. But he just needed to take a moment and realize he had been selected to fill the position of custodian for a reason. He was good at dealing with people, even if he didn't want to be. "Yeah, I got pretty lucky," Rud said, striking a pose. "It was in the shape of a duck when I found it. A metal duck."

"A metal duck, huh?" Roland asked, tapping the side of his helmet. "Interesting."

The mage returned eventually, delivering some news to Roland that only they could only understand. Rud had to wait for a while as they went back and forth, hashing out whatever it was that was a problem. When Roland finally turned back to them, he did so with a sharp motion and a shrug.

"We won't know the exact reason it grew so fast until we go in," Roland said. "Speaking for my entire party, I thank you for your hospitality. Can I assume we can expect the same treatment when we exit? We may need to leave depending on how the floors above 50 work."

"Absolutely!" Rud said, nodding eagerly. "You're doing us a big favor here. You know, there's an entire labyrinth below the tower. Maybe you can help with that."

Roland froze completely, his helmeted head tilting to the side. He stood there for some intense moments before even moving a muscle. Eventually, he pulled at clasps near his neck, removing his helmet to reveal his face below. Although Rud was happy he didn't look like some alien, his human features weren't much better. Roland was a man that had clearly seen a lot of combat without his helmet on. His head was shaved, and his face had a blocky shape to it. But every available surface was covered in scar tissue, and one eye held a milky white color.

The mage among the group said something and Roland shot a few words back.

"Are you kidding?" the massive man asked.

Rud held his hands up defensively. If his anxiety wasn't peaked before, he was officially in the realm of freaking out. "I swear."

"My mage missed this," Roland said, turning and saying a few things to the elven woman. She shot a few words back, and he nodded. "It must be obscuring magic. New plan. We're going to take the first 50 floors before exiting to check the labyrinth. With your permission, of course."

"Any objections?" Rud asked, sending the message to everyone in the Grove.

"None here. I'd rather keep my head," Mint said.

"We would be honored to have them check it out. That would be a great help."

"You have the blessing of the entire Grove," Rud said. "The Sacred Tree and our Guardian are happy that you're willing to offer us your skills."

Nice one, Rud. Butter them up. You got this, he thought to himself.

Roland nodded, standing back to his full height and replacing his helmet on his head. "Thank you, keeper. I don't know how long it'll take us, but I look forward to our next interaction."

"Me too! Eagerly," Rud said, puffing himself up a bit. "Just yell really loud when you come out and I'll see you."

Roland chuckled, the sound echoing in his helmet. "I will. Again, thank you."

Rud watched as the party approached the tower. Mint came out of the woodwork a few moments later, shaking her head.

"Is that what it feels like to meet a celebrity?" Rud asked, sagging as he let out a massive sigh.

"Yeah, maybe. Feels like I've been holding my breath since they got here," Mint said. "And the news that the big guy had to deliver was not good. 100 floors? That's bad."

"A rank each floor… Does that make sense based on what you observed?" Rud asked.

"Yeah. Meaning I'm a super weak little baby compared to those guys," Mint said. "We'd be roasted over open coals if not for those guys. Guess we should be thankful, but I can't help but feel inadequate."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"We could always call for Bent's help."

"I'd rather jump in the open ocean wearing a meat suit," Mint said with a shiver. "Better to fend for ourselves at that point."

Perhaps it was Rud's connection with the grove, but he felt a flash of Mint's feelings at that point. He could feel her fear for the future, and her duty to the Grove. Then he felt an intense desire to get stronger. She'd do anything to soar through the ranks, and she had a good idea how to make it happen. There was no way she could jump from Rank 5 to Rank 100 or something crazy. But if she hooked into the power of the tree, she'd get some kind of feedback loop to beef her up.

Which meant Rud had to put some effort into helping Ban get stronger.

"You're worrying too much, Rud," Ban said, pulling him back to the present. "Our plan is already working. You'll recall Roland talking about latent energies, right? What do you think I've been doing this whole time? What have you been doing this whole time?"

Rud had to think about it for a long beat before he got it. "Oh. You're doing sneaky stuff like me?" he asked. The druid was building his power by eating dungeons, but Ban was doing it by eating latent energy. That made sense to him. "You dirty dog. Sneaky tree."

"We've been waylaid by the Gate project, but I have a lot of energy I can use to jump ranks," Ban said. "I think I can jump to Rank 4 or 5 right now. But I won't do so until we get the dungeons, tower, and labyrinth under control."

"Woah. Okay big bad tree," Rud said. "Calm down."

"Just keep the Grove healthy and we'll be fine," Ban said. "You're doing great."

Rud released a sigh, walking aimlessly into the forest. It didn't take long for him to feel the newest beast within the Grove join alongside him.

"Quite a bit of excitement, yes?" Jasper asked. "Do you require any help?"

"I know how you Sacred Beasts get," Rud said. "Unless you wanna show your elf form, I don't need help. I need people with thumbs."

"You just want a peak at my form. But we've only just met~" Jasper said. "Fine. What's the task?"

Rud folded his arms, expecting Jasper to reveal his form. But he didn't. The druid sighed. "Cheese, tea, and trail mix. All are very easy to make, I just don't have the manpower to do it. If you can move tea from a basket to a fungus pot, you're my man."

"I'm familiar with cheese making," Jasper said, doing tight circles and nipping at his tail. "I don't have to milk any creatures, do I?"

"The cows are already milked for the day," Rud said. "All the milk is frozen in Taz's caves in the food storage. I have enough cultures to make a lot of cheese, so… Get to it?"

Jasper cleared his throat. "First things first…"

When Mint transformed into her human-like form, she did so in a puff of smoke, sparkles, or a flash. Jasper was apparently a cloud of smoke kind of guy. Rud's gaze was locked at eye level, but he eventually dragged his gaze up to meet that of Jasper. Before him stood an overly beefy elven man with red hair and a roguish grin on his face. He wore a simple tunic and slacks with heavy working boots.

"Why are you so tall?" Rud asked, looking up.

"I can change my size," Jasper said, flexing. "Why? Are you envious?"

"A bit," Rud said. "Any way to explain why you're such a beefcake?"

"Are you talking about these?" Jasper asked, flexing some more.

Rud scoffed a laugh. "Which way to the gun show?"

"Over…" Jasper said, pointing while he flexed. "...there!"

"Why do you even get that reference? Anyway, let's get to work," Rud said. "Just send me a telepathic message if you need direction."

"Understood. Since I was unable to slay the outworlders, I will prove myself this way," Jasper said. And with that, he was off without another word.

And Rud was happy. He wasn't completely comfortable with such a beefy elf running around. It was like having a pointy-eared version of Fabio running around the Grove. No bodice within the forest would go un-ripped. The druid shook away the thought, slapping his face a few times. He checked the contents of his bag and nodded to himself. There was enough druidic junk in there to get his new bag. Shifting into his raven form, he took off and headed toward Barlgore.

The flight was fun, but Rud soon landed in the market area. He thought it was a market area, anyway. One thing that caused his thoughts to drift was the sight of Elm's tower in the distance. He hoped she was doing her own thing, but the woman didn't need a babysitter.

"You, mortal," Rud said, pointing dramatically at a woman wearing a leather apron.

"Me?" she asked, pointing at herself.

"Where do you sell your magical bags? I require a magical bag."

"Uh… That way?" she said, more as a question.

"Thank you!" Rud shouted, shifting back into his raven form which caused her to scream. The druid cackled as he flew off. There were sections of the market area dedicated to more mundane things, but he soon found the expensive place. It looked a bit more fancy, and it didn't take him long to find a shop selling enchanted goods. After hopping in through an open door, shifting back into his true form to gain another scream, he greeted the shopkeeper. "Your finest bag, please."

"Great spirit?" the elven man behind the counter said, clutching his chest. "I suppose… That might be… That one over there."

The shopkeeper gestured to a bag on the far side of the room. It was a backpack of similar design to his current one. It was a pale shade of pink, but the best feature was the padding on the straps. "How much? I don't have money."

"I'm sorry. I heard you like to barter, if that's okay?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Indeed. Behold my junk," Rud said, upending his bag onto the counter.

"That's quite a lot of junk… Is that a full bucket of water? How didn't it spill?"

With absolutely no idea what his stuff was worth, Rud let the man pick what he wanted from the junk. Of course, a lot of that junk was enchanted with the power of the Grove, which the mortals absolutely loved. Although the shopkeeper tried to give him change for the exchange, the druid refused.

"Quite fine," Rud said, grabbing his new pink backpack and checking it out. "Nice doing business with you."

Instead of tossing out his old backpack, or trading it, Rud brought it along. Before shifting into his raven form and rushing off back to the Grove, he inspected his new bag.

[Enchanted Chimera Leather Backpack]

Epic

Description:

Sourced from the hide of a mad elven king's experiments, this leather backpack is of the highest quality. It is pink.

Effect:

Self-repair, self-cleaning, obscuring.

This backpack has significantly more space on the inside than it should.

Items within this backpack weigh almost nothing.

"Maybe I need to upgrade my other gear," Rud said, feeling how comfortable his new bag was. "This is nice."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.